US stock market opens higher

NEW YORK (AA) - The U.S. stock market opened higher Friday as the American economy added more jobs in January than expectations.

The Dow gained 98 points to 19,983 and the S&P 500 rose eight points to 2,289.

The Nasdaq rose 14 points to begin trading at 5,650.

The American economy added 227,000 jobs in January -- the last month of Barack Obama's presidency, and the 76th straight month of job gains -- beating market expectation of 175,000 and marking the highest gain in the past four months, the Labor Department said earlier Friday.

Average job gains in the past three months also rose to 183,000, according to the department.